President Donald Trump gave U.S. Trade Representative, Ambassador Jamieson Greer, all the tools and leverage needed to bring the Swiss govt to a substantive trade agreement. The pressure was too much to bear, so Switzerland quickly negotiated a deal.
In the background President Trump’s global trade reset has been seriously damaging for the Swiss industrial economy. The EU overall, Germany specifically and China, have stopped purchasing precision Swiss industrial machinery.
It’s not the direct tariffs against Swiss precision machinery itself that created the pressure, but rather the tariffs against nations who purchased the Swiss precision machinery.
China was a big purchaser of the Swiss machinery, until Beijing stole enough intellectual property to develop their own precision machining capacity. Slowly China didn’t need Switzerland.
Germany and the EU economy then began to contract as the Trump tariffs bit hard against their exports to the USA.
Simultaneously, Chinese EV production started replacing more expensive European EV production, and the tooling purchases within the auto industry began contracting within Switzerland.
As things unfolded, the forecast for the future of the Swiss economy started to become very clear; their precision industrial exports were going to continue contracting. Something needed to change, and fast.
Ambassador Jamieson Greer announces a major free trade agreement with Switzerland {SEE HERE} and the White House provides a fact sheet {SEE HERE}. A joint statement is then released:
Today, the United States of America (United States), the Swiss Confederation (Switzerland), and the Principality of Liechtenstein (Liechtenstein) (collectively, Participants) express through this Framework their intention to negotiate an Agreement on Fair, Balanced, and Reciprocal Trade (Agreement). Through the Agreement, the Participants intend to create a dynamic and balanced trading relationship on a reciprocal and mutually advantageous basis, with a view toward creating good, high-paying jobs and economic growth in their markets. The Participants share a desire to make trade fairer, easier, and more substantial. The Participants further share a desire to foster secure and resilient supply chains and a conducive business environment to attract high-quality and trusted investment. Switzerland intends to take action to balance its trade with the United States, including by purchasing U.S. goods, facilitating investment in the United States, and removing tariff and non-tariff barriers for U.S. goods. The Participants intend to immediately begin negotiations of the Agreement with the aim to make significant progress, and if possible conclude the Agreement, by the first quarter of 2026, subject to their respective domestic processes.
The Participants intend for the negotiations of the Agreement to focus on the following key areas:
Investment, Commercial Considerations, and Opportunities
Switzerland and Liechtenstein support the increase of foreign direct investment by Swiss and Liechtenstein enterprises into the United States.
Switzerland intends to encourage and facilitate at least $200 billion of investment into the United States, across all 50 states, over the next five years, to create manufacturing and research and development jobs. Liechtenstein intends to encourage and facilitate at least $300 million of investment into the
United States and increase by 50 percent over the next five years the number of jobs created by its private sector in the United States. Switzerland and Liechtenstein intend to encourage and facilitate one third of these investments by the end of 2026. The United States intends to determine, in its application of reciprocal tariffs, if Switzerland and Liechtenstein have taken appropriate steps to encourage and facilitate these investments and associated job creation. If needed, the Participants intend to jointly discuss the steps taken to encourage and facilitate such investment and job creation and determine additional measures for investment promotion and facilitation.
The Participants intend to encourage their enterprises to promote and develop training and apprenticeship programs, including Registered Apprenticeship programs, for U.S. workers in key high-growth sectors in the United States, taking into account their current and future investments.
The Participants intend to cooperate on this issue.
Switzerland and Liechtenstein intend to work together with the United States on addressing potential distortions of bilateral trade and investment arising from industrial subsidies or actions of state-owned enterprises.
The Participants intend to create the best possible environment to encourage and facilitate cross-border investments and job creation.
2. Tariffs
Recognizing the Treaty of 29 March 1923 between Switzerland and Liechtenstein on Accession of the Principality of Liechtenstein to the Swiss Customs Area, the United States intends to apply the same tariff treatment to both Switzerland and Liechtenstein.
Switzerland and Liechtenstein intend to improve market access for U.S. goods, through the application of zero duties on all U.S. industrial goods, U.S. seafood, and certain U.S. agricultural goods, and through the application of tariff rate quotas for a number of other U.S. agricultural goods.
The United States intends to apply the higher of either the U.S. most-favored-nation (MFN) tariff rate or a tariff rate of 15 percent, comprised of the MFN tariff and a reciprocal tariff, on originating goods of Switzerland and Liechtenstein and to apply only the U.S. MFN tariff rate on certain products listed in the “Potential Tariff Adjustments for Aligned Partners” Annex to Executive Order 14346 (Modifying the Scope of Reciprocal Tariffs and Establishing Procedures for Implementing Trade and Security Agreements).
The United States intends to promptly ensure that the MFN tariff and the tariff imposed pursuant to Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962 (Section 232) do not exceed 15 percent for originating pharmaceutical goods and semiconductors of Switzerland and Liechtenstein subject to Section 232 tariffs. The United States intends to positively consider the effect of the Agreement on national security, including when taking action under Section 232.
The Participants intend for the benefits of the Agreement to accrue predominantly to the Participants. If the Participants determine that the benefits are not accruing predominantly to the Participants, the Participants may modify the Agreement with rules of origin necessary to achieve that objective.
The Participants intend to cooperate, where relevant, on matters relating to transshipment and circumvention practices, in accordance with their respective domestic laws and regulations.
3. Non-Tariff Barriers and Related Matters
The United States and Switzerland each intend to accord to conformity assessment bodies located in the territory of the other treatment no less favorable than they accord to conformity assessment bodies located in their own respective territories. Treatment under this paragraph includes procedures, criteria, fees, and other conditions relating to accrediting, approving, licensing, or otherwise recognizing conformity assessment bodies.
The Participants intend to apply the World Trade Organization (WTO) Decision of the Technical Barriers to Trade Committee on Principles for the Development of International Standards, Guides and Recommendations (2000) to determine relevant international standards within the meaning of Articles 2 and 5 and Annex 3 of the WTO Agreement on Technical Barriers to Trade, and intend to negotiate provisions clarifying this understanding.
With respect to automobiles, Switzerland intends to work with the United States to facilitate the recognition of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards.
The Participants intend to advance cooperation in mutually agreed strategic sectors, including medical devices. Switzerland intends to facilitate the acceptance of medical devices cleared or approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
The United States acknowledges the efforts made by Switzerland to facilitate trade in beef and beef products. Switzerland intends to work with the United States to address specific measures that restrict market access for U.S. poultry and poultry products, strengthening opportunities for U.S. agricultural exports in Switzerland. The United States and Switzerland intend to cooperate on streamlining sanitary requirements for labelling and certificates, particularly for beef, bison, and dairy products.
The Participants intend to discuss robust commitments related to intellectual property rights protection and enforcement, including transparent and fair treatment of geographical indications.
The Participants intend to continue to provide an open and competitive environment for service suppliers. Accordingly, Switzerland and Liechtenstein intend to consider opportunities to provide service suppliers additional access to their markets.
The Participants intend to increase their cooperation on labor-related trade issues, and work to address forced labor, including forced child labor, and the worst forms of child labor in supply chains. Switzerland and Liechtenstein intend to continue to protect internationally recognized labor rights.
Switzerland and Liechtenstein intend to continue to adopt and implement high levels of environmental protections, effectively enforce their respective environmental laws, and work together with the United States on trade-related environmental measures, including those that may affect trade between each of them and the United States.
The Participants intend to negotiate commitments on good regulatory practices to ensure greater transparency, predictability, and participation throughout the regulatory lifecycle.
With a view to achieving greater reciprocal benefits from participation in their procurement markets, the Participants reaffirm their commitments under the WTO plurilateral Agreement on Government Procurement and their other binding international procurement obligations, and intend to clarify that states that are not party to these agreements do not benefit from non-discriminatory treatment in procurement at the central governmental level covered by such agreements, including through further implementation measures in their respective national procurement frameworks, if necessary.
The United States and Switzerland intend to foster the use of technology solutions that allow for full pre-arrival processing, paperless trade, and digitalized customs procedures.
4. Digital Trade and Technology
Switzerland and Liechtenstein intend to continue to refrain from imposing digital services taxes.
The Participants intend to facilitate trusted cross-border data flows and address data localization requirements, taking into account legitimate public policy objectives.
The Participants intend to explore mechanisms that promote interoperability between their respective privacy frameworks with a view to facilitating secure cross-border transfers of data.
The Participants intend to refrain from imposing customs duties on electronic transmissions and to support the multilateral adoption of a permanent moratorium on customs duties on electronic transmissions at the WTO.
5. Economic Security
The Participants intend to strengthen their cooperation on economic security, including on addressing non-market policies of third countries.
The Participants recognize that the effective enforcement of economic and trade sanctions serves the Participants’ shared interests. The Participants intend to strengthen existing cooperation with regard to U.S. export controls and sanctions.
Switzerland and Liechtenstein intend to cooperate with the United States on matters related to the review of inbound investment, including on the basis of national security.
Switzerland and Liechtenstein intend to work cooperatively with the United States to secure supply chains and improve supply chain resilience in sectors of shared interest.
The Participants intend to coordinate the timing of their respective domestic processes for the entry into force and implementation of the Agreement.
This document does not constitute a legally binding instrument creating or affecting any rights or obligations under international law. {SOURCE}
I was too young back then to understand
I get it now!
While I am a Hawkeye fan through and through, I’ll allow for this one time…wolverines, baby!!!
Slainte my friend. Nice of you to drop by. For your reading pleasure.
Tariffs: The Taxes That Made America Great
https://buchanan.org/blog/tariffs-the-taxes-that-made-america-great-136986
Indeed, some of the (once) greatest industrial powers got their start by building off the American system.
Bismarck specifically credited it over the British system as a major factor in strengthening Germany.
Thank you!
I’m looking forward to reading it!
Always a pleasure, Colkitto. Always!
Good stuff!
Swiss Krono already bought out a major wood products manufacturing firm in southern Oregon earlier this year. I don’t know if they have refurbishment / expansion in mind for that facility. It appears to be outside their normal scope of flooring-related manufacturing focus.
Today, President Trump signed an executive order to exempt a wide range of food imports, including beef, tomatoes, coffee, and bananas, from the sweeping tariffs imposed earlier in the year on nearly every country..
https://tinyurl.com/35vae3fm
“The President has thus determined that certain agricultural products shall no longer be subject to the reciprocal tariffs. Some of these products include:
coffee and tea;
tropical fruits and fruit juices;
cocoa and spices;
bananas, oranges, and tomatoes;
beef; and
additional fertilizers”
When I was in school, the FFA would raise money by selling apples, oranges and grapefruit at this time of the year. It was a deal put together by a south Texas orange grower if I recall correctly. We always bought some even when our kids were in school. I like fruit at this time of the year.
I went with my wife to walmart a couple of weeks ago. I thought I would get me some navel oranges. There were no south Texas oranges. There were no Florida oranges. There were no California oranges.
There was one bin of oranges – – – – from South Africa. Nope.
You probably won’t find many oranges from Florida. The orange groves are being plowed under to make way for apartment buildings, shopping centers, and miles of new highways.
So it is true. Tariffs are a tool to get to fair trade.
I’m sorry but these countries that have slapped tariffs on the U.S. for decades do not deserve to make a deal and just walk away.
This is where we are, the hand dealt to our President Trump.
He knows how to play this hand, or deal.
Seems The LORD has been preparing him all his life for “such a time as this”.
May The LORD continue to BLESS him!
We Pray in JESUS NAME, AMEN
Another win.
Just like clockwork….
The Trump administration has many tools, kinda like a Swiss Army Knife. Pun intended.
<…kinda like a Swiss Army Knife. Pun intended.>
Pun enters a room…kills 10 people.
Pun in…ten dead. 🙂
BREAKING NEWS: Hamas bans all puns immediately…
Lots of “intends” in that quasi-agreement.
….and at the end, it says, “This document does not constitute a legally binding instrument creating or affecting any rights or obligations under international law.” Does that leave wiggle room?
Switzerland is not a big trade partner but what they sell us, besides watches and chocolate, is high value.
Oorah on the trade front. Oorah.
Let in other news of the day the CEO of Ford says he can’t fill 5,000 skilled mechanical jobs.
The disconnect is astounding.
What that CEO is really saying is that he cannot fill those 5,000 positions at the price point that the Ford Motor corporation is offering.
Always, supply and demand. There are easily 5,000 Americans that could, and would fill those jobs if the perceived compensation was closer to being equal in value to the time and expertise bring demanded for it.
Let me rephrase, CEO says he can’t fill those positions at six figures salaries.
Call me crazy but that reads as the issue is not for the lack compensation but a systemic issue of skill set and work ethic.
Hence my astounding disconnect observation.
But hey our educational culture is the so Oorah.
A system that seems to be a massive pop corn machine producing graduates with barely there educational skill sets and those that pass muster of having been anointed to game the system.
But, hey. Disconnect denial is just part and parcel to silo management.
Billions spent annually on education, trillions at stake and it always more tin cup measures on the public purse.
With some school districts reporting less than 10% ability to read at eighth grade level, etc.
Not once have I seen any headline proclaiming personal responsibility as a solution to education.
Zero. Now that is truthful disconnect observation. By any honest analytical measure, those types of statistics are a confirmation that silo policy goals are not only more than successful but the yardstick by which generational change has been successful.
Go figure, but Oorah.
Good points.
Yet, lack of personal responsibility and shady business practices both can be true at the same time and downstream from the common culture. That is to say much of a society operating with warped and/or missing moral compasses.
I seen and heard enough to know what a lot of those corporate leaders say does not always comport with reality. Often with significant omissions.
I have also known of some who have done the right things and still get screwed over by no fault of their own. As well as others that are terrible employees.
The full truth is somewhere in the midst of all of it.
The full truth is somewhere in the midst of all of it.
That is reflective reasoning. One that I can relate with. Sort of like saying, “Society is an organism. A life into itself.”
Call it CTH wisdom.
Definitely difficult to quantify and certainly the search for political solutions destined to fail.
Why is that!
So here is another twist on CTH wisdom.
“We have a generational mess on our hands at a time when our instant now culture projects a gullibility advantage.”
Think about that word salad thoroughly.
‘gullibility advantage’
So sure. Don’t get me wrong. I starting out with, “The disconnect is astounding.”
But, in truth, as pointed out by R F Burns’ somewhere in the midst’ observation.
I won’t be surprised if some day very soon PDJT goes, “What do you mean those billions of capital investment brought to our shores, ie main-street manufacturing is struggling with finding employees as a means to put the Department of Education under the microscope.
One can still hope.
Gullibility advantage? Good maybe for the conmen looking for easy marks.
Easier to take advantage of people who pretend though…
Troy State University, Troy, Alabama has training agreements with Hundai/Montgomery and other affiliate in Lanett, Georgia to provide educational automotive training to several Jr College campus located close to both auto manufacturing plants. Hundai provides the equipment and TSU provides the instructors to fill both facilities with trained automotive technicians when the students complete the 2 year courses, to allow them to expand production at both facilities and across the country at others they have. Other manufacturers have found a home in Alabama creating subparts for autos, (wiring harnesses, engine parts, etc. Maybe Ford should follow suit and provide funding for automotive scholarships in technical schools around their Michigan /other auto plants instead of funding the radicals rioting across the nation against US citizens. The $100’s of billions Ford charity spends for socialist takeover riots would be better spent training, but I guess the Ford Foundation is too woke to further their manufacturing (other than the now failed multi-billion dollar electric vehicle fiasco). Great call Ford management, now begin producing lower expensive vehicles and try long term recoupment plan. Mercedes/Benz builds all their crossover/utility vehicles outside Tuscaloosa, and their plant has expanded 2X that I am aware of, also Honda builds a portion of their vehicles in Alabama, Toyota/Mazda has finished their multibillion dollar plant in N Alabama Huntsville and has created a boom in the housing market and other automotive subsidiaries, they have been building Toyota engines there since the 1980’s, and have expanded so many times as they provide nearly all of Toyota engines for trucks and cars, including truck plant in Tennessee. Toyota and other Asian Auto companies have no problems meeting their production quotas, and they warrantee nearly all of their vehicles 5years/100K mile and provide expansion funding almost every other year, and most without Unions demanding more contract benefits every time a contract runs out. Take away the Union execs ma king 6/7 figure salaries plus benefits and maybe they could compete with these companies that see the value of building/hiring in USA. Look at howe WOKE management destroyed Jaguar in Great Britain in less than 1 year with a stupid, silly WOKE advertising plan that appealed to no one.
You have that right! In laws all retired from GM, great pay, benefits and retirement. The positions they were replaced with were temp agency employees paying minimum wage. It didn’t matter what skill set an individual came in with!
Liar?
That’s funny, liar?
Is that rhetorical?
We need a skilled-trades Visa for Germans, Swiss, others, under, say, 45 or 40, to help fill those slots.
I would have to say no to that kinda visa. There are plenty of the skilled trades people around but they all got out of that profession because it became low paid & went on to use their skill sets elsewhere like I did.
During the late 90’s all the master’s I knew got out of the problem solving business as our part of the pie by FIAT General motors directive went down (again) to 15%. (60’s was 50% of the pie)
When I went to trade school, ALL the instructors were retired from various industry passing that wisdom on if one were paying attention (not a big percentage were).
If industry had any wisdom at all, they would look for and reclaim the knowledge from the 55+ crowd to pass that knowledge back, but I don’t see that ever happening.
It (knowledge) will cease to exist like knowing how to build a Pyramid ceased to exist. (from what I have seen, we cant even duplicate a small pyramid with today’s technology either.)
As if that is solution.
All European Nations are struggling with unemployment or under-employment woes.
In the global context, “That’s off shoring in reverse”
And, once again part of R F Burns ‘in the midst’ wisdom.
1. It does not address our able-bodied issues of gainful employment.
2. Clearly an attempt to inject valid H1A visa baggage into discussion.
Question do any here have any understanding of what Systems Analysists do?
It is not a snarky inquiry.
Here read this:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Systems_analysis
The CTH makes clear the DC silo exists and that it is a pretend game.
Who you think guards the goal posts? Let alone defines the goal posts etc?
Stop conceding the
‘gullibility advantage’
Provide funding to trade schools here in USA like Asians do in Alabama.
The apprenticeship programs Switzerland is pledging to fund should eventually help with that.
Foreign funding, gee, what a novel idea!!
How many billions does Tim Cook shell out each year training chinese workers for their plants in China?
The biggest one-time expense are those suicide nets…
He pays the CCP for the workers, they get paid by CCP, first trained in plants built by CCP. Motorola did this back in the mid 1980’s, just as cell phones were being built.China built the plants, sub-contracted Motorola line manufacturing Supervisors to train new Chinese employees, housed in quarters built next to the plants, spoke perfect English, and could read English diagrams and instructions for 1st generation cell phone technology that Motorola sold to them. I rented a home in Florida from a 25 year supervisor than stayed in China for 9 months, then went back 2X times after CCP had expanded their manufacturing facilities to produce 2nd and 3rd generation cell phones, but then she was no longer needed, as the CCP had back engineered new Motorola phones to the point of being able to build all future generations of cell phones for themselves, then they bought out Motorola after Motorola couldn’t compete with them. I used to work for Motorola, and left in 1987 after they consolidated their 2 way commercial business to online sales and eliminated all sales personnel, as they could not compete w/Chinese or European manufacturing .
Coorpoations really need to look at themselves. The process of hiring a qualified individual to having that individual actually working might be an issue.
I.e. A new factory opening up. Have a hiring day, Simple application. Most important have the person in charge spend 5 minutes or less with each applicant, look them in the eye. This positions get filled.
or
Do it the current. Online, blah, blah, blah. Position don’t get filled.
There probably are the number of qualified people out there but perhaps they would rather make less with more independence than making more working for a corporation. 🤔
It would be fun if you switched the image for “Happy Hassett” back to a quokka. It fits him so well! : )
All those in the Trade and Treasury departments must be just jumping with joy to finally have their leashes removed so they can do what they have wanted to do for ages!
Bet there is a happy hum in their offices every single day, and probably quite a few high-fives with each new trade deal they close!
Coffee price are through the roof. A jar of instant coffee 22 bucks. NUTS!
Yes it is nuts. But like everything else, when the price is too high, people must find alternatives. No one is forced to drink coffee.
Killjoy!
President Trump is cutting back the tariffs on coffee, and many other imports
A 12 oz jar of Folgers is 15 bucks in SW Missouri
Well, I just purchased 6 12 Ounces bags of Tim Horton’s Dark Roast for 35. I am very happy with the coffee and price.
Coffee at my grocery store on Eastern shore is still 1.50$ a cup.
We drink a coffee from Mexico (instant) which I buy at Walmart…$7.95 and quite nice with hot milk and Splenda, never black.
No coffee epicurean me, but it gets me started in the morning and keeps me going.
$22???!!!
That one would be staying on the shelf.
President Trump is amazing….simply AMAZING.
Any proper deal with the Swiss should require the extradition of Schwab, Harari, and Tedros for crimes against humanity. Otherwise, farewell Swiss neutrality.
The Swiss need to extradite Hansjorg Wyss. The Swiss billionaire is a major funder of Arabella and a variety of ultra-Leftist groups. He was one of the big sponsors of the whole “No Kings” charade. He is also believed to be a huge “dark money” funder of Leftist political candidates, routing money through various channels to skirt around laws against foreign political influence.
They also need to crack down on the Oak Foundation and the Laudes Foundation, both based in Switzerland. They were part of the Leftist-NGO Industrial Complex that funds radical policies, ESG, “climate justice,” etc. in the US and worldwide.
https://americansforpublictrust.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/APT_Foreign-Charities-Funding-Extreme-Policies-Report-1.pdf
“U.S. goods exports to Switzerland in 2024 were $25.0 billion, down 9.9 percent ($2.7 billion) from 2023. U.S. goods imports in 2024 totaled $63.3 billion, up 21.1 percent ($11.0 billion) from 2023. The U.S. goods trade deficit with Switzerland was $38.3 billion in 2024, a 56.1 percent increase ($13.8 billion) over 2023.”
Source: https://ustr.gov/countries-regions/europe-middle-east/europe/switzerland
Switzerland’s biggest blunder was doing business with China. That’s how they lost their competitive advantage in the world with respect to precision engineering. Sure, China would have ripped them off using third parties to obtain the product so they could reverse engineer it; but Switzerland could have slowed that down and kept their R&D ahead of it ensuring they had a competitive advantage to exploit for profit for many years to come. But it’s always everything on the altar of increasing shareholder’s wealth in the next quarter’s financial reports so they’re lack of intelligence, lack of forward thinking, lack of strategy has brought them to this place.
Apparently most still assume that the opaque controllers of US-EU-aligned nations are not colluding to commit collective hara-kiri while aiding China’s rise.
If the goal is to bring down the west and raise the east, doing business with China is not a blunder, it supports the goal.
Early in the execution of the 100 Year Plan, “nudging” was needed, supplied by those intelligent people based – where else – in that “Intelligence Center” in zip code 22101. Now, things are past the tipping point, China holds the cards and there are few other options besides doing business with it, there’s still nudging but the momentum would continue even without it.
Wake up.
While the tariffs may have a certain impact on EU (and German) economies, I also suspect that the loss of inexpensive and readily available fossil fuels from Russia has an equivalent impact.
I’ve never associated Switzerland with seafood!
Another great deal by the deal maker.
Dear Sundance,
Every time I see the collection of those bad-daddy snarling wolverine teeth and the Lord of the Pack, arms spread above them, I laugh so hard I lose a mouthful of coffee. Hands down, the greatest meme ever created. Thanks so much for the great visual!
Happy Thanksgiving!!